German higher court upholds ban on Galaxy Tab 10.1

The Higher Regional Court in Dusseldorf yesterday, upholding an earlier injunction, requested by Apple and imposed by a lower court on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, held that the tablet violated a German anti-competition statute. Additionally, the court said that the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 was also in violation of the law.

FOSS Patents yesterday was the first to report the development.

In September, judge Joahnna Brueckner-Hoffman in a ruling said there was a "clear impression of similarity" between Apple's iPad and the Galaxy Tab 10.1. She banned Samsung's tablet from sale in the country, much to Apple's delight, but Samsung argued that "it severely limits consumer choice in Germany." (See: Germany bans Samsung tablet PC sales on Apple's plaint)

However, immediately after the injunction, Samsung filed an appeal to the Higher Regional Court, and even as the court arrived at the same conclusion, it followed a different line of reasoning from Brueckner-Hoffman's. The September ruling came on a patent violation, which The Higher Regional Court focused on competition.

According to analysts, competition or a perceived lack of it was becoming a thorn in Samsung's side.

In a related development, the EU's European Commission yesterday announced that it was launching a formal investigation into whether Samsung had used wireless patents as an anticompetitive tool against Apple.